DCHS’s new online exhibit, The Wysor Grand Opera House Collection, features about 80 cabinet cards of actors, singers, comedians, acrobats and vaudevillians who performed on Muncie’s stages. Found at Muncie Civic Theatre and digitized by DCHS, the cards reveal a rich tradition of theater in Muncie. The collection is part of a larger ongoing project with Muncie Civic Theatre and Ball State University.

Discover how Muncie's first animal shelter came to be through the efforts of humane advocate Zula Valentine and philanthropist Emma Ball, whose vision transformed animal welfare in the city.

A surprising piece of Muncie history, this article explores the life of Mark Mussler, a local artist and makeup designer who briefly appeared with the original Village People in 1977. His journey took him from Heritage Hall and Ball State to Studio 54 and the early days of disco fame.

On New Year’s Day in 1900, the Muncie Morning Star reported that “with the advent of the new year came the discussion on the questions of the dawn of another century.” Across Muncie, “where informal gatherings were held, there were warm arguments on the subject. Some said the twentieth century is here, while others asserted that another year must lapse.”

There were five Thursdays in November 1939, which limited the holiday shopping season between Thanksgiving and Christmas to just three weeks. Major retailers urged Roosevelt to move Thanksgiving up one week, arguing that a full month would bolster sluggish sales.

The early 1900’s saw a national surge of independent automobile manufacturers as the industry developed. Muncie was no exception and one of the local companies was Inter-State. In September 1908 it was announced that a new automobile factory would be built in Muncie on West Willard Street, and by December the company had started production. In 1909, the business was incorporated as the Inter-State Automobile Company. Several local businessmen were stockholders, to include all five Ball Brothers.

In 1884, Munsonians orchestrated an epic, day-long Fourth of July celebration involving a parade, day and night time fireworks, fancy balls, and a series of competitions befitting 19th century Muncie. Heavy rain the day before broke an oppressive heat wave, making the Fourth delightful for anyone spending the day outdoors.

The buildings at 107-111 East Main may appear today as nondescript. However, they personify Muncie’s deep history, with roots reaching all the way down to the city’s founding. These structures stand as a testament to their durability and to the dedication of their many proprietors.

This photograph from the Mike Mavis Collection, Delaware County Historical Society depicts Walnut Street in Downtown Muncie looking South between Adams and Charles Streets. (The label on the photograph is incorrect.) At the time, the street was in the process of being paved with Stillman’s Department Store and the Vaudelle Theatre buildings clearly seen on the street front.

Forty-two years after its closure, Harrison Township’s old Jaybird or Mount Olive schoolhouse was described as a “brick ruin.” Today, there’s little left to take a picture of.

Early in the 1900s, East Central Indiana thieves began stealing small quantities of readily available nitroglycerin from oil field magazines to blow safes. The bandits, dubbed in the local press as ‘safe crackers,’ would then break into a business at night and use the stolen nitroglycerin to blow off doors or disable the safe’s locking mechanism.

“In all thy ways acknowledge him,” directs Proverbs 3:6 in the King James Bible, “and he shall direct thy paths.” A narrow, concrete lane that spans nearly a third of a mile in rural Delaware County proves that members of the Eden United Church of Christ took their verses to heart: Around 1907, the church built a sidewalk to connect the nearest interurban stop to the congregation’s brand-new sanctuary.

Juanita Smith graduated from Muncie Central High School in 1941. After earning a bachelor’s degree from Ball State, she taught in Indianapolis before returning to campus as a secretary in the dean’s and the director of graduation studies offices.

D.B. Moore was a Delaware County farmer and an early advocate for free public roads. A resident of rural Niles Township, Moore was deeply suspicious of big-city big-wigs and their big-time motives! That’s part of what makes his story -and the story of the Dunkirk & Moore Pike– interesting. That, and gold. Gold makes everything more intriguing!

Hot air balloon ‘ascensions’ like this were common at Westside Park in the summers between 1894 and World War I. We have a good record of them because boosters heavily promoted balloon launches in Muncie’s press before an ascent.

On January 18, 1925, Gerald Chapman was captured on the sidewalk between 312 and 322 East Charles Street in Muncie. This came as a great surprise because at that time Chapman was being sought all over the country by federal agents but was expected to be in some large city. He was a New York gangster with a national reputation.

The next day hundreds of newspapers all over the country picked up the story and Muncie became famous. In 1925 Chapman was a very hot topic and his capture, trial and later the tragic death of Ben and Mary Hance, dominated the news throughout that year.

Join DCHS historian David Bailey for a presentation on January 18, 2025 at 3:00pm in the DCHS Resource Center (120 East Washington Street) as he explores his fascinating bit of local history.

Gurley Brewer was selected as the keynote speaker for Muncie’s September 22, 1900 Emancipation celebration in Westside Park. The day began in downtown Muncie with a parade. Participants lined up mid-morning on High Street, facing south. The procession was led by twelve mounted Muncie Police Department officers, with Chief Samuel Cashmore riding point. The MPD was followed by a Muncie Fire Department engine and the Rough Riders, an all-Black drum corps from Louisville, whose members “wore blue army shirts and McKinley-Roosevelt caps.” The Patriarchs Militant from Louisville’s Fall City Patriots Odd Fellows lodge marched behind.

The Morning News concluded that the day “was most pleasantly spent, dinner being eaten picnic fashion beneath the trees. The races were interesting, the crowd large and the speeches of excellent order,” The Daily Times thought the same, “there was lots of fun and patriotism at the fair grounds yesterday afternoon where Emancipation day was celebrated by the colored folks of Muncie. Everybody wore flags with pictures of Abraham Lincoln.” As old Sol set, “Mrs. Abbie Morin entertained several friends last evening in a pleasant manner. It was a happy final to the Emancipation Day celebration.”

In the summer of 1887, Muncie’s Black leaders laid plans for an Emancipation Day celebration in September to observe the 25th anniversary of the proclamation.